[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—In the course of
your article under this heading you refer to the importance of strengthening Anglo-American friendship through understanding and to the remarkable apathy of Fleet Street to matters of great moment in the United States.
That a general sentiment of goodwill can only be given effect through understanding is self-evident, but is the " indifference of the average Englishman " really such or is it more that a potential demand is inadequately fulfilled ? As you point out, the number who can visit America is limited, the lecture work of the universities and the exchanges of pupils and teachers, admirable though they are, can again only affect a comparatively small proportion, and for the others the meagre treatment by the daily Press and the gross distortions of the majority of Holly- wood's effusions have to suffice.
But I believe that the demand is there, and that this indiffer- ence is by no means as widespread as is generally supposed. I have just returned from a particularly interesting time in the Midlands with Professor Arthur Newell of Boston, the principal lecturer of the Associates (or Anglo-American Understanding. A group of the leading professional and business men had decided to devote a whole fortnight to the consideration of current American affairs and had asked him to lead discussions m all the larger towns. The response to this and the universal enthusiasm for the subject were sufficiently convincing that there is a real desire for information on American affairs. It was welcomed all the more because of the general neglect by the Press. Similar activity in all parts of the country—in Lancashire; in the towns of the North East Coast, in the West (,f England—and with all types of people has proved itself to be meeting a genuine demand.
Another indication of the interest taken in American affairs 3 the number of people who listen with unfailing regularity to the Saturday evening Transatlantic commentaries_ by Mr.
Raymond Gram Swing. From all sides we are impressed by the attention these receive—a tribute not only to this way of presentation, but also to the subject matter which Mr. Swing so competently handles.
In schools, too, the balance is being redressed. Not only is there a considerable and ever-growing demand for talks that give a dispassionate account of life in the United States, bct recently a joint committee has been formed, on which all educa- tional and Anglo-American bodies are represented, with the object of extending the range of lectures on America in schools, and attempting to bring more study of American history into school curricula.
Whether the attitude of political leaders towards the possible repercussions of their acts on American public opinion is emerg- ing from the indifference of which you write, is another and much wider issue, though recent trends in fiscal policy might tend to support this. Where one might disagree with the writer in Foreign Press is his assumption that Americans are comprehensively supplied with information about Britain. By comparison this may be so, but there is much still to be done, despite the recent statements of President Roosevelt and Secretary Hull, to break down the isolated attitude of mind of such a large section of Americans. That is why we of the Associates for Anglo-American Understanding feel it important that a full half of our work should be done in America, so that through a programme of talks and open discussions of a purely educational nature on both sides of the Atlantic we may, at this critical time, shoulder in a more intimate way some part of the responsibility which the Press has so regrettably evaded.—Yours faithfully, R. LEONARD MIALL, Secretary. Associates for Anglo-American Understanding, 29 Fitzroy Square, W. r.
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